Some House Party
by Sharkey52
Summary: Yuzu wakes up after a party she threw whilst her dad and Yuya were away. Now she and whoever's still here have an hour to make it appear as if nothing had ever happened. Hear that? It appears to be the sound of Yuzu's impeding doom. (could be considered AU, but what setting is up to you, I left it ambiguous. Characters are aged enough to drink alcohol)
**Some House Party**

However the night had started, Yuzu had not intended to be woken to the sound of NYAAAAAH SEBANYAAAAAA! echoing in her ear, because no matter what they'd supposingly done previously, no one deserves that treatment.

She jolted up from the drink-stained, cheese puff-dusted sofa as her phone began to blare the opening track to The Lion King from within her jeans' pocket, vibrating like it was trying to rid itself of a particularly annoying gnat. Resolving never to let Sora near her phone ever again, she silenced the deafening ringtone, knocking over empty cans and partially-full crisp bags around her in the process.

It was Yuya.

"Hey, Yuya."

"Good morning, Sweetheart."

It wasn't Yuya. It was her dad, apparently still unable to comprehend the fact his "little girl" was now a teenager who didn't like being woken up before noon during the holidays. Wonderful.

"Oh, hey Dad" she responded, trying to keep as much grumbling as possible out of her voice "You're using Yuya's phone?"

"My phone died" he replied in a way that was far too cheery for someone who's phone had just died at this time in the morning "We've stopped for petrol, but we'll be home in an hour."

"Right."

"You feeling okay? You didn't throw a party whilst I was out, did you?"

"Er…" Flashes of last night same back to Yuzu like a silent movie from hell, colours far too bright for her eyes to take in at this point in the morning. "No. No parties. Why would I do that?"

Advantages of your dad also being your Headmaster – you master the art of keeping your voice level whilst you lie to him. It wasn't something Yuzu _liked_ to do, but the intervening circumstances left her without much of a choice.

"Yuzu, remember what I said" her dad's voice dropped into the tone Yuzu had heard him use to give announcements in Assembly – the same tone he tended to use when serving out detentions. "If there's a single can of beer in that house when I get back-"

"You'll make me clean the house for the rest of the summer to teach me the lesson of responsibilities, I know" Yuzu reiterated back, rubbing her eyes with her fingertips and trying to shove away the feeling of dread creeping through her bones.

"A bit harsh" Yuzu thought she heard Yuya's mum Yoko comment in the background.

"Exactly – being a grown up means taking on new responsibilities" her dad insisted, his voice creeping back up to its normal fast-beat positivity. "But I have faith in you."

Maybe a little too much faith.

Yuzu was surprised her voice remained so level when she insisted: "I didn't throw a party, Dad."

"See, I told you she wouldn't!" Yuya's voice echoed from the back of the car, though partially obscured by the sound of the car's engine roaring into life.

"Alright then!" Yuzu could practically see her dad's grin through the phone "We'll be home in an hour."

Once she had hung up the phone, Yuzu did something else she didn't like to do but considering the intervening circumstances seemed quite fitting.

She swore. Loudly.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Toilet paper dangled down from the light feature on the ceiling of the conservatory. The coffee table had become a rather interesting, if slightly disgusting, mosaic of pizza crusts, cheese puffs, cans and one unfortunate orange that had been run through with several cocktail sticks. Plastic cups dominated the TV cabinet, as if someone had tried to start a rudimentary game of beer pong – some empty, some-half full, some tipped over to stain the carpet with whatever ooze they had contained. Someone had placed a stack of four on top of Rin's forehead where she was lying on the ground by the TV, limbs spread eagle and sleeping with her eyes open in that unnerving way of her's that made it appear she'd be hit by an Avada Kedarva curse. She looked like she'd been target practise for a round of pizza throwing, as Yuzu counted no further than three pizza stains on her shirt and shorts. Of course, that was only the part of the body she could see past Yugo, who was lying sprawled out on top of her, his shirt missing and jacket currently acting as a lampshade to a miraculously undamaged vase. Drooling and snoring, his head rested neatly between Rin's breasts.

Yuzu felt something try to propel itself up her throat but she swallowed it. She could only pray the damage was limited to the conservatory.

The sound of her fighting her way off of the sofa, sending a tidal wave of junk and a pair of boots roaring down onto the carpet, awoke Rin and Yugo. Rin knocked off her unicorn horn of cups and her eyes began blinking like a film camera shutter a million times a minute – the punishment for sleeping so creepily. Yugo sat straight up, wiping drool from the edge of his mouth and chin and promptly turning a rather fetching shade of red as he realised what he'd been using as a pillow.

Yuzu had no time nor patience to let them sit around and feel sorry for themselves.

"Get up!" she hissed in a way she'd never done nor ever planned on doing at these two particular classmates "Get up get up get up get up!"

"Ugh?" Rin groaned, still on the floor "What time is it?"

"11:00! My dad 'll be home by 12:00!" Yuzu clued them in on the desperate situation.

"Whoa" Yugo commented, assessing the damage around them in attempt not to look down at where he'd been lying before "He's gonna kill you." He shivered and appeared to finally notice his lack of clothing. "Wait a minute, what happened to my shirt?"

"We have to start cleaning, now!" Yuzu insisted, passing Yugo his jacket and discovering someone had shoved their socks into its' pockets. She was starting to sweat.

"We?" Yugo stared up at her, blinking uncertainly as if the idea of manual labour was simply too much for his brain to comprehend.

"Yes, _we_ you lazy butt!" Yuzu wasn't feeling to creative at the moment, or she would've come up with a more choice word to describe how she felt about Yugo at that moment.

"Geez Yuzu, you seem pretty cool about the party _you_ threw last night" he commented with a chuckle, slipping on his jacket and removing the socks "These are Serena's, aren't they?"

"Shut up and grab the mop and broom, you know where it is!" Yuzu ordered him, trying to keep herself under control because she was _totally_ cool about the party she threw last night, thank you Yugo. She offered Rin a hand to help her stand up, but she managed just fine on her own. "I think we have some stuff to clean the stains out of the carpet somewhere around here too."

Now on her feet, Rin tested her balance before holding a hand out to Yugo. "Come on, Yugo. It's the least we can do for Yuzu after whatever we did last night. It was a brilliant party, by the way."

"Thanks" Yuzu grumbled, not appreciating the compliment right now.

Yugo stood up, still trying valiantly not to stare at her breasts again. Though his efforts succeeded in making him notice something else about her. "Er…Rin? Um…"

He pointed discretely towards her crotch.

"What?" Rin looked down and appeared startled to notice her shorts were undone. "Whoa!" She hastily zipped them up and buttoned them again. "What did we do last night?"

"I don't know!" Yugo was turning red as a stop sign again.

"I don't _care_!" Yuzu snapped "Clean now! Deal with your unresolved relationship issues later!"

Well, now Yugo's face was starting to match Yuya's hair in term of redness.

Rin smiled apologetically at Yuzu before taking Yugo's hand and leading him towards the cupboard where the cleaning supplies were kept. "We can figure it out as we start cleaning this up. And Yuzu, you have something on your face."

Yuzu cocked her head to the side, confused. Yugo though started sniggering as they left the room, which didn't leave her feeling settled at all. She ran to the downstairs bathroom and peered into the mirror.

"Oh great, those jerks" she hissed, staring at the scribbled of marker all over her face which appeared to be the work of, at a minimum Dennis, at a maximum Sora and Shingo as well. Fortunately, they'd kept it reasonably clean in terms of content, unlike what they'd done to Yuya at his birthday party. Due to that incident, Yuzu had kept a bottle of isopropyl alcohol behind the sink, and was she ever grateful for it now. A minute of scrubbing and what felt like the sun had steam-rolled over her face removed the scribbles, leaving her looking like she had a mild sunburn instead. Easily explainable. It was July.

Feeling slightly more positive, Yuzu left the bathroom and entered the kitchen, where any feelings of positivity drained away like someone had pulled the plug in her heart.

The damage was not at all limited to the conservatory.

Yuzu wasn't entirely sure if everyone had had a competition to see who could lose the most amount of clothing last night, if the boots and the socks and Yugo's shirt were anything to go by, but if they had, Yuto had definitely won. Stark-naked with articles of clothing pooling on the floor beneath him, he was lying face-down on the kitchen counter, his palms turned upwards to house a tomato and a banana with an eggplant placed delicately on his spine. His fingertips appeared to be covered in ice cream and supporting candy rings shoved onto them. Mercifully, for Yuzu's eyes and Yuto's dignity, someone had draped Shun's trench coat over his lower half, leaving his feet and one leg to dangle off of the counter.

Taking a deep breath through her nose, Yuzu removed the fruits and gently shook Yuto's shoulder. "Yuto, wake up. But no sudden movements. I don't want to see anything."

Yuto jerked his head up, sleepily smiling up at Yuzu. "Good morning."

"Yuto" Yuzu kept her voice level thanks only the politeness of Yuto's greeting, which was to be expected from Yuto. "My dad is going to be home in an hour. You have to get up. But I'm going to turn away before you do, okay?"

"Why?" It was exactly after this statement that Yuto's grey eyes widened and he realised his predicament. It was a little too much for the noble Yuto to take.

The curse (something she'd never expected to hear from _Yuto's_ mouth) was Yuzu's signal to hastily turn around before she could see something she really didn't want to. "Just put some clothes on!"

"Where?!"

"The ones on the floor!"

"Those aren't mine!"

"I don't care, just put them on!"

A few seconds later, she made the decision to turn around after a fair bit of clothing rustling and Yuto's comment:

"I think this is Serena's."

Turning around, she found Yuto sitting on the counter, looking rightfully ashamed of himself, wearing a pair of red trousers he would never own and a purple hoodie with a local team's slogan on it. She winced inwardly as it appeared they had indeed found yet another article of Serena's clothing. She wasn't looking forward to finding Serena, that was for sure.

"Can you help me clean up? Or my dad's going to kill me" Yuzu asked. Not that he had a choice, but it was polite to ask.

She took a step back to let Yuto jump off of the counter. She watched him briefly look around the disaster that had once been the Hiiragi family kitchen – the ice cream, the fruit, the toilet paper trailing from the stove hood, the pizza boxes splayed around the countertops, the mess of dry pasta on the floor by the microwave...

"This is…impressive" was all Yuto could comment on, shuffling over to the pantry "Is this where you keep your cleaning supplies?"

"No wait, Yuto, that's-!"

The yelp Yuto let out as he was knocked off his feet by a legion of rolling potatoes awoke both him and Shun, who had managed to fold himself like pretzel to get all 6'6" of him into the small pantry. The only article of clothing he'd lost was his trench coat, but in return had gained a Burger King crown and a macaroni necklace draped over one ear. As he turned to face Yuto, his crown tipped to the side and over his eye and he knocked a couple of stray pizza boxes onto the floor to join the potatoes. Yuzu was almost amused to see Shun – who emotions tended to range between apathetic and stoic when in public – in such a situation, but she quickly pushed the thought away.

"Hey! King Kurosaki! Get up!" she barked "You have to clean!"

"No" Shun groaned, pushing aside the pizza boxes and bags of vegetables to get to his feet, albeit having to duck. He patted down his pockets and swore. "Damn Akaba! He lifted my car keys!"

Yuto glance out of the kitchen window towards where Shun had parked his car the previous night. "Yeah, it's gone. I guess he didn't want to wait for you."

Yuzu had completely forgotten Reiji had even shown up. She was mildly disappointed he hadn't stayed – he was a nit-pick for cleanliness and would probably have this entire house spotless long before this lot would.

"Can I catch a ride with you?" Shun asked, stepping out of the pantry to stretch.

"Sure, once you've helped clean up" Yuto promised him, folding his arms and inciting another groan from Shun. Though as he moved his hands to fold his arms, ice cream splatted from his fingertips onto the wall of the kitchen.

"Be careful!" Yuzu shrieked.

"Sorry!" Yuto apologised immediately, scanning his minimal damage. "Shun and I can take the kitchen. You look for everyone else."

"Have you seen Ruri?" Shun asked as Yuzu sped through her thanks, not taking any note of Shun's question as she pointed towards the cabinets under the sink for cleaning products and bin bags.

Before she could see anything else that would ruin her morning, Yuzu stepped out into the back garden, which was mercifully not that bad. Except for a pair of small white boxers floating next to a pair of worn out trainers and few foam woggles, the pool itself was okay. Serena, still wearing her tank top and skirt though barefoot, was at the edge of the pool, already cleaning up some rubbish that had escaped the house. Her face lit up as she saw Yuzu approaching.

"Hey, Yuzu! Great party!" She didn't look or sound tired at all. Lucky. Dread was the only thing keeping Yuzu on her feet. "I was just trying to clean up your yard! I think we messed it up a bit!"

Before Yuzu could say anything (or break down crying and thank Serena for being the only thoughtful one in this house), the door to the storm shelter was kicked open from the inside and Shingo, clad in his usual blue shirt and a pair of jean shorts Yuzu knew for a fact he didn't own, embraced the morning air with a pair of bin bags.

"Oi, Yuzu!" he called, grinning from ear to ear "Great party! Even if I only got to have a few drinks!"

So she had been told.

"Those are _my_ shorts" was all she could say.

"Hey, you said I could borrow them!" Shingo insisted "Yaiba threw my pants in the pool, remember? They're drying off!"

He gestured to the edge of the pool, which was empty besides from a drying patch that might have once resembled trousers.

"Oh" Shingo looked startled "Well, they _were_ drying off."

Yuzu groaned. "Just keep the shorts."

She didn't remember even offering him them, and why she would've chosen jean shorts rather than a regular pair of trousers was just as much a mystery. But then again, she didn't remember much of last night and she was certainly smashed enough to agree to something like this.

Shingo perked up. "Really? Thanks, man!"

"You okay?" Serena asked her "You look like the hounds of hell are coming after you."

"My dad's going to be home in an hour" she explained gloomily.

"Yikes!" Serena pulled a face "Alright then! Sawatari, hand me that bin bag! We're pulling double time!"

"What?!" Shingo's jaw dropped so far it nearly hit Ecuador "The Neo New Sawatari Shingo does not clean!"

"The Neo New Sawatari Shingo _does_ clean when I suggest to him that his father may find out he was drinking last night" Serena subtly warned him.

Shingo pulled a face himself before throwing one of the bin bags across the pool to Serena and beginning to pick up the remaining rubbish, grumbling under his breath: "Only because she gave me the cool shorts."

"Thank you" Yuzu smiled "Have you seen any of the others?"

"Well, Hokuto took Masumi and Yaiba home last night – they were pretty smashed" Serena offered "Crow had to get home for work. I don't know about anyone else though. Did you invite Jack?"

"No" Yuzu admitted "I didn't invite Reiji though either."

"Well" Serena glanced at the boxers floating in the pool "You may want to look for whoever owns _them_."

"I was hoping they were Yuto's" Yuzu admitted.

Selena all but cackled. "Yuto stripped? No way!"

Yuzu was starting to feel a little bit better. It was still going to be a gigantic stretch to clean the whole house in an hour, but at least they had the back garden under control. The only question was who was still here?

She hopped back inside to find Yuto sliding the dried pasta into a bin bag. Shun was wiping down the kitchen counter with cleaning wipes. Rin was sweeping up the stray food in the conservatory. Yugo, who still hadn't found his shirt and had tied the arms of the jacket around his waist, kept his eyes on her and turned back to vigorously scrubbing the sofa when she turned around to ask him a question about last night.

You know what, this might turn out okay after all.

A loud thud from the ceiling startled everyone on the ground floor.

Rin looked up. "What was that?"

Yuzu's impending doom probably.

Yuzu darted up the stairs, ignoring a tie-dye cardigan and a hawk mask lounging around on them as trip-hazards. Firstly, she checked her bedroom. Besides her drawers looking like they'd been riffled through – probably from looking for Shingo's new attire – and her bed appeared slept in, it was in pretty decent condition. The spare bedroom was locked, so there was no need to worry about there. So she turned on her heel, walked right into her father's bedroom and screamed.

Dennis, dressed in Yuzu's own pink pyjamas and halfway through a magic trick involving juggling balls, was so startled by the sudden intrusion that he accidently sent one of the juggling balls flying towards Yuzu, though it fell just short of her. The floor was covered with clothes, her fathers' books and marking that had escaped his desk, along with Sora, who's state of dress wasn't entirely clear beyond minimal as he had just covered himself with the duvet from the bed, laughing like there was no tomorrow.

Sensing a disturbance, Yuri emerged from the en-suite, his hair frizzy, clad in a pair of jeans and a tank top and using Yuzu's father's own toothbrush which, in Yuzu's mind, just summed up what an awful person Yuri was. He said nothing, just threw a glare in Yuzu's direction, a shirt in Sora's, and leant against the dresser, brushing his teeth and clearly not giving a damn.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Yuzu found herself shrieking.

"Not so loud!" Sora insisted, still giggling, which coincided with Dennis covering his ears and Yuri wincing. Yuzu felt a twinge of vindication at their obvious hangovers. "Hey Yuri, you seen my boxers?"

Yuzu gritted her teeth and clutched the juggling ball she'd just picked up like a stress ball. She didn't want to explode, because the house was already messed up without her assistance, not to mention Yuri could probably pitch her over the balcony before she could yell uncle. But she wasn't going to stand for this. This was her _dad's_ bedroom.

She marched over to the bed, hurled the juggling ball an inch from Dennis' head and yanked one of the pillows from underneath him. She then used said pillow to smack Sora across the face. It wasn't her fan – wherever that was – but it would do.

"Why the heck would you do this in my dad's bedroom?!" she shrieked.

"Oh! It's a pillow fight you want!" Sora stood up, the shirt he'd put on that Yuri had tossed at him luckily was large enough to cover the area of him Yuzu didn't want to see and how many more naked people was she going to encounter on this wild adventure? He grabbed a pillow from the bed also and used it to hit her back. "You're the one who threw the party!"

"That because I didn't think you'd be so inconsiderate!" Yuzu yelled back "He's a _headmaster_! I thought you respected authority?"

"Wait, what is it you think we did?" Dennis asked, sitting up on his knees on the bed to get between them, hitting the pillow out of Sora's hands.

"This room!" Yuzu seethed, dropping the pillow down to his side. "Is in disarray! And it stinks of something I don't want to think about!"

"It appears you're incapable of getting past baby language" Yuri said in that way that made you feel like dirt without any change in tone whatsoever.

"Hang on, that wasn't us!" Sora insisted, batting his eyelashes up at her in an attempt to look innocent.

Yuzu didn't buy it for a second. "You're naked! Dennis, you're wearing _my_ pyjamas!"

Dennis pouted. "They're comfy."

"We didn't do anything!" Sora insisted "It was like this when we found it! Den and I just crashed here!"

"I am more disturbed by _that_!" Yuzu declared, but the fact Dennis was nodding along with him added some credence to the story. So, she glared at the third guilty party. "And you?"

"I slept in the pink room" Yuri told her flatly, then turning tail and heading back into the bathroom.

By which he meant her room. Great.

"Fine" Yuzu took a few more deep breaths before glancing back at Sora, who had wrapped the duvet around himself again. "Why are you naked?"

Sora paused, like he didn't remember himself. He declared: "Stripping contest."

"No, that was Yuto and Sawatari – Yuto totally won" Dennis explained "You threw your clothes off in protest as you railed against the first-born of Egypt because you couldn't find the bathroom."

Sora winced and stared at him strangely. "Aw man, I really said that?"

"You did, it was quite the show" Dennis nodded "I wasn't aware you knew that kind of vocabulary."

"Neither did _I_ " Sora admitted.

Yuzu was quite _done_ with the show. She was already raising her pillow again to hit them both.

Before she got the chance, Yuri emerged from the bathroom, hair pulled back neatly and now wearing his leather jacket. He snatched the pillow from Yuzu, threw it across the room, and handed Dennis a bundle of clothes she assumed belong to him. "Hurry up and get dressed, we're leaving."

"And you're not going to return this room to its original state?" Yuzu asked, hotly. She saw Sora begin to open his mouth and hastily added: "I don't care if you didn't cause it, you were found neck-deep in it, so it falls to you to clean it."

Yuri didn't say anything. He just looked at Yuzu as if someone had stolen his glasses and he wasn't quite sure what he was looking at.

Yuzu scoffed and threw another pillow onto the bed. "You have fifty minutes."

Just as she was leaving, she heard a familiar dramatic voice ask: "Can I keep the pyjamas?"

Her pyjamas? After Shingo had all but stolen her jean shorts? "No way in hell!"

She left the three boys to digest that as she slammed the door behind her.

"Dammit" she swore, finding she'd been doing that a lot this morning. Yuya would be horrified. Not that it was unwarranted.

She was so stupid. So incredibly stupid. Her dad was going to be away for one night with Yoko, picking Yuya up from his magicians' summer camp because the Sakakis' car had broken down. And in that one night, she'd broken the only rule he'd given her: no parties. She could've just lazed about on the sofa in her pyjamas, watching anime on the TV and eating ice cream straight from the carton. She could've invited Yugo and Rin over to play some video games and they could've been as loud as they wanted without her dad complaining. She could've gone to the arcade with Masumi and stayed out as long as she wanted. She could've asked Ruri over to watch that Ghibli movie Ruri insisted she _had_ to watch. But no, Yuzu had had the brilliant idea to ignore her dad and invite most of her contact list (except for Gongenzaka, who considered alcohol either a sin or beneath him, possibly both) over for a big party to celebrate the beginning of the summer and have the time of their lives.

Her heart stopped, as suddenly Shun's earlier "Have you seen Ruri?" echoed in her head like Yuya's voice after she'd had too much to drink, or Yugo's voice on any given day.

Ruri.

Immediately she stormed back into the bedroom.

"Don't look!" Dennis yelped, tripping over the trousers he was trying to put on.

"Hey, you said we had, like, an hour!" The mercifully dressed Sora complained, busy striping the duvet of its soiled cover.

Yuri looked up from where he was taking the pillowcases off. Good, they were all going in the wash.

"Where's Ruri?" Yuzu demanded.

Yuri looked over at Dennis and mouthed: "Which one's Ruri?"

"Beats me" Sora shrugged.

"Ugh. You didn't see her?" Yuzu turned on Dennis. "You. Where is she?"

Dennis looked up at her, pouting again as he buttoned up his pants. He was still wearing her pyjama shirt. "Why do you assume I know?"

"You have a history" was Yuzu's response "Now tell me where you last saw Ruri or I'll bring Kurosaki up here."

She'd only said the first syllable of the word 'Kurosaki' by the time Yuri and Sora were staring wide-eyed at Dennis with a single demand in their eyes: "Tell her what you know, Dennis."

Dennis shrunk under their gazes uncomfortably. "I swear, the last time I heard her we were on our way up here! She was more drunk than Hamlet! Kept on going on about how she was on top of the world!"

"On top of the world?" Yuzu repeated the line, trying to make sense of it. It could just be Dennis being dramatic, but if he wasn't, what on earth would cause Ruri to claim she was on top of the world?

As if some being from upon high was answering her ponder, a line of toilet roll fluttered gracefully past the balcony, down from the roof towards the back garden, riding gravity like a champion surfer.

Yuzu's stomach plummeted.

The roof.

Slamming open the glass doors, she rushed out onto the also-littered balcony. Looking up, she nearly had a heart attack.

There she was.

Ruri appeared to be asleep, straddling the roof whilst donning a party hat, a ridiculous pair of purple shutter shades and a pink feather boa.

Shun was going to kill her.

Trying not to have a panic attack, Yuzu called up to the sleeping girl: "RURI! RURI WAKE UP!"

Ruri sorted grunted, half-awake, and almost rolled to one side, her party hat falling off of her head.

"NO RURI, DON'T MOVE!" Yuzu called up frantically "WAKE UP!"

She moved again. This time, Yuzu guessed she'd opened her eyes (she couldn't see through the shutter shades though) and fully awoke. She abruptly screamed. "Ah! How did I get up here?!"

"I don't know!" Yuzu called back frantically, placated slightly now she knew Ruri was aware of herself, but not fully. "Just don't move! I'm thinking how to get you down!"

Down below, Serena chimed in. "There's a ladder down here! We could use that?"

Picturing the ladder in question, Yuzu shook her head. "I don't think the ladder will be long enough."

"Hey Ruri!" Shingo called up "Just jump off and land in the pool! OW!"

He yelled out because Serena had seized his ear between her thumb and forefinger. "Don't listen to him Ruri, we'll get you down before your brother notices!"

Yuzu felt a bead of sweat run down the back of her neck. They might _need_ Shun to get her down, but if that happened, they probably wouldn't come out alive. Shun Kurosaki pretty much defined the protective older brother. Little sister spent the night on the roof? _Hell_ no.

It was at this point, Sora emerged from the bedroom onto the balcony. "Oh! There are my boxers!"

Serena looked back at the pool and grinned. "You didn't invite me up there?"

Sora stuck his tongue out at her playfully. "Dennis said no girls."

"Oh, and you listen to Dennis over me?" Serena put both hand on her hips, playing along with a mock-grumpy expression. "Sora I thought we were bros?"

"Oh, we're bros!" Sora grinned "But he _whines_ , like a _girl_."

Yuzu's face felt hot. She ignored the rest of their banter and focused on the problem at hand.

"Yuzu" Ruri's voice wobbled as she spoke "How do I get down?"

Now, Yuzu made it her mission to like everyone, even if not to same degree. For instance, Yuya was her best friend for life, but she would acknowledge Reiji or Yuri if she passed them in the street. Ruri was up near the top of the scale. She hadn't known the girl as long as she had Masumi or Serena, but she was so genuinely nice it was impossible not to love her. She and Yuzu both loved music, and had spent many an hour discussing favourite bands, the instruments they played or had played, or even just playing a game at the Kurosaki house with the music channel on the TV in the background. Her trip with Ruri and Rin to see a band concert was something she could always reflect on during hard times as one of the best weekends of her life. So if anyone didn't deserve being stuck on a roof, it was Ruri. There was no way Yuzu was going to leave her up there to roast in the mid-morning sun.

"Slide down the roof and we'll catch you!" Sora offered, then muttering under his breath "I think."

Yuzu whipped her head in the small boy's direction. "What did you say?"

"Nothing!" Sora grinned up at her with pearl white teeth "We'll get her down! How do you think she got up there in the first place?"

Yuzu wrinkled her nose. "She didn't…walk in on you throwing your clothes around, did she? Or did you lock her out whilst she was up there? I swear, Sora-"

"Hey, don't look at me, I was smashed!" Sora protested "I didn't even know your house had a balcony!"

"Shut up."

Both turned their heads as Yuri stepped out onto the balcony, the area feeling significantly more crowded. He turned and held his arms up towards the roof, but his lack of height meant he couldn't even reach the edges. He gritted his teeth and called for Dennis, who stood still for Ruri to slide down the roof onto his shoulders before touching down to solid earth, feathers from her feather boa tickling his face.

"You look glorious, Ruri" Dennis commented with a wink, inciting a giggle from the girl before he headed back inside with Yuri trailing after him.

Yuzu let out a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding. She was fine, Ruri was safe. Hence she was startled when Ruri pulled her in for a hug.

"Thanks for the party Yuzu! I had a lot of fun!"

Yuzu felt the pangs in her stomach start to fade. She had a lot of fun. She had the time of her life, lost herself and woke up on the roof looking ridiculous. She had a lot of fun.

"You have fun up there, Ru-Ru?" Sora asked, still grinning.

"Oh, yes, I think so!" Ruri smiled, turning to face him "I think I got up there myself. I guess I didn't notice anything was wrong because I was so excited. I don't think you locked me out, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm just glad you're alright" Sora told her, scratching the back of his head sheepishly "The music was pretty loud and stuff, we didn't hear anything. Sorry if you saw anything you didn't want to last night, Ru-Ru."

"It's fine. Yuzu, isn't your dad coming home with Yuya soon?"

And the stomach pains were back.

"Yeah" Yuzu admitted "They'll be home at 12. How do you know that?"

"I think you mentioned it last night" Ruri answered and _how is it possible for someone to look that cute wearing shutter shades_? "I don't know. Last night is a blur. It went so quickly!"

"Seriously, how _did_ my boxers get down there?" Sora pondered, staring down at his floating underwear with furrowed brows.

It was at this moment Yuzu remembered Sora was partially responsible for trashing her dad's bedroom, and the rage came back full-force, bubbling under the surface of her skin. "Don't you have laundry to do?"

"It's all the washer!" Dennis declared, poking his head out of the bedroom again "We found it downstairs. We've put it on the fastest wash, so it shouldn't be too long!"

Yuzu nodded with approval.

"Yuzu, do you want me to help clean up?" Ruri asked "It can't be too long until your dad gets back."

"No" Yuzu quickly cut in "You woke up on the roof. You don't have to-"

"Hey!" A voice that was neither Shingo nor Serana called from the back garden and Yuzu counted her blessings that even if her dad caught her with the house in this state, at least Shun hadn't emerged from the kitchen two minutes earlier. "There's a lot more crap in the front yard! You want us to clean that too?"

"You cleaned the kitchen already?"

"Yuto's just finishing off the pizza boxes!" Shun called up, and then seemed to notice Ruri for the first time. "Hey, Ruri! You alright up there?"

"Yeah! I had fun!" she called down, a big grin on her face.

A genuine smile grew across Shun's face and Yuzu wished she could take pictures because this was a once in a lifetime event going on right here folks.

Yugo then arrived in the back garden, wearing his shirt again and carrying the tie-dye cardigan and the hawk mask from the stairs. "The sofa stains have all got foam on them that we have to clean off in fifteen minutes! At least that's what Rin says! I found these though! This yours, Sora?"

"Yeah, that's mine!" Sora proclaimed, nodding at the cardigan, not the mask though.

Yugo tossed the cardigan up towards Sora, promptly missed and then held the mask out towards Shun questioningly. Shun's stony expression said everything.

"It's not Kurosaki's" Serena laughed "That would be like putting on another face!"

The squawk Shun let out at that statement really didn't help his case. Shingo nearly laughed his way into the pool and Sora almost fell down the stairs on the way to collect his cardigan he was laughing so hard.

Before Shun could grab a hold of Serena and toss her in the pool, Yuzu yelled down to the four in the back garden. "Oi! Stop it! Everyone needs to hurry up! It's getting closer to 12! I'll do the front yard!"

"About time, Hiiragi!" Shingo smirked.

Ignoring him, Yuzu ran back downstairs, Ruri trailing after her.

"You don't have to clean up, Ruri" she insisted "You probably had enough sleeping on the roof all night."

Ruri shook her head. "I partied as much as anyone last night, I should help out too."

Yuzu smiled and laughed. "You're still wearing those glasses, you know. And the boa."

"I know. I kinda like them."

She laughed again as she accepted a pair of bin bags from Yuto, who was indeed still trying to rid the kitchen of all the pizza boxes (how much had they ate last night?). The front yard wasn't as much of a mess as Shun had claimed: the only thing of significance was that at some point last night, someone had come up with bright idea to assemble a mediocre throne out of pizza boxes as well as the coke and beer cans on the lawn. Luckily that was the only eye-sore and no one was asleep out there, leaving Yuzu pretty confident they had accounted for everyone. Thankfully, due to the fact it was the holidays, most of the neighbours were on holiday and those who weren't appeared to be in their houses still. She was glad Yoko had gone with her dad to pick up Yuya – if she'd seen it…

"Easy enough" Yuzu shrugged "Should only take us a few minutes."

It didn't take them long to pack away all of the pizza boxes and cans. Used napkins and pizza crusts were sporadic enough that they were easy to spot. The girls talked about the music last night and how their lives had been going lately and "Did I give Sawatari permission to steal my jean shorts last night, because I seriously don't remember it?" "I don't know, I blacked out after Yugo started to drown in the pool".

Yuzu was finally starting to breathe normally again. They were almost done and her phone read 11:33. Apparently she also got a text from Yuya two hours ago telling her they were on the way home, but she hadn't replied. Yuya had no reason to worry though, he'd heard her voice during the phone call with her dad.

He was probably still going to worry, but he wouldn't admit it to her face.

She hadn't received anything since the phone call, so they mustn't have encountered any reasons for them to be late. Provided it stayed that way, then they should arrive home at 12 like her dad said.

They had all but finished the front yard when Shun and Yuto emerged from the house carrying several big black bags full of rubbish. Yuto appeared to have located his usual attire of black jeans and a green shirt, as well as a soaked pair of worn out trainers.

"We got some from back garden as well" Shun explained "Sorry about the mess. I think we partied a little too hard."

"Some of your potatoes were unsalvageable" Yuto added "We ran the okay ones under the tap and put them back in their bags."

"That'll be fine" Yuzu nodded, it wasn't like they ever used the potatoes anyway. "Just put those by the driveway, okay?"

"Actually, Serena said to put them in the back of her truck" Yuto told her "She said she was going to dump them in a dumpster somewhere so your dad wouldn't ask about all the rubbish."

Remembering that threat about cleaning the whole house by herself for the rest of the summer if he saw one beer can, Yuzu shuddered. "Yeah, thank guys. That's a great idea."

The two walked (or shuffled in the case of Shun, who didn't seem to be coping well with his hangover) over to the black pick-up parked in front of the house and threw the bags in the skip.

"You look good, Ruri" Yuto commented "Partied a bit too hard, maybe?"

" _I_ didn't wake up naked" was Ruri's reply, earning an embarrassed blush from Yuto and a curious look from Shun. "But yeah, I guess. I woke up on the roof."

"YOU DID WHAT!" Shun's yell nearly caused all of their hungover heads to explode upon impact.

Yuto put a hand on Shun's shoulder, perhaps to hold him back, or maybe to prevent himself from falling over as he laughed so hard he almost cried. "You did? That's amazing!"

"NO IT'S NOT!"

Yuzu tried to avoid Shun's eyes as she waved the next group of people – Rin and Yugo – over to Serena's truck to dump their bin bags.

"We got the stains out of the carpet and sofa" Yugo proclaimed proudly "Looks good as new. Your dad won't notice the difference."

"Sorry for trashing your house, again" Rin apologised.

Yuzu shook her head. "Don't apologise. It's my fault for throwing a party when I shouldn't have."

"You regret it?" Yuto asked.

"I know I should but…no."

Yuto chuckled, amused, with Ruri joining in.

"It was worth it" Rin agreed with a grin that would make Yugo proud before heading back into the house.

"Perfect party" Yugo agreed, swinging himself up to sit on the tuck's tailgate. "Well, except for the whole cleaning up bit."

"I don't know, I could've done without the stripping" Yuto admitted.

"I _liked_ the stripping" Ruri protested.

Yuto did a double take. Shun appeared to choke on his own saliva.

"Fur ball?" Yugo asked, patting Shun on the back like he honestly thought that would help. "Wait no…feather ball? What's the equivalent for a bird?"

He was waving the hawk mask around with the other hand. Shun's response was the wrench the mask from between Yugo's fingers and throw it into the back of the truck. It appeared he was handling the hangover well.

"Good riddance" he muttered, storming off towards Yuto's car.

"Where's his car?" Ruri asked.

"Reiji 'borrowed' it" Yuto explained "He's getting a ride with me." He dug his car keys out of his jeans' pocket. "I'd offer you a ride, but the back's full of junk. Can you make your own way home?"

"I'll be fine" Ruri waved him off "Just make sure my brother gets home."

"Preferably without him puking in my car" Yuto sighed, calling back to Yuzu as he chased after Shun, who'd walked right past Yuto's car without noticing. "Thank you Yuzu! See you soon!"

Rin then emerged from the front door with two more bin bags. "He so won that stripping contest."

"I know" Ruri agreed.

"What?" Yugo blinked "What stripping contest? Was I invited?"

Rin just laughed as she threw the bin bags into the back of Serena's truck.

Speaking of Serena, she then approached the group gathered at the back of her truck. She had taken her hoodie back from Yuto and was wearing her socks found in Yugo's jacket pocket as well as the boots that had fallen on Yuzu when she first woke up. Following her and also carrying bin bags was Shingo, who had retrieved his trousers – also from Yuto – but was carrying them over his shoulder and still wearing Yuzu's jean shorts. Yugo even had the courtesy to wolf whistle at him for his trouble, but if anything that just made Shingo puff out his chest and love himself even more.

"Yuri threw us a bag from the balcony" Serena told them "He said he found some more stuff in the hallway."

"Everything looks pretty clean downstairs" Shingo added "Looks like you didn't even throw a party, ha!"

"And we put Sora's underwear by the pool to dry with Yuto's shoes" Serena finished with "He can get them when he comes downstairs."

Yuzu found her shoulders sagging with relief. "Thank you. All of you, actually. I know I've been acting like a jerk this morning, but my dad would probably kill me if he found out about it, you know? So just, don't tell anyone?"

"Don't have to tell me twice" Shingo scoffed.

"I really don't need to be lectured for drinking alcohol" Rin agreed. Yugo grimaced at her statement and nodded.

"Sure" Serena shrugged "I'll tell Masumi if I see her, but I can hardly see that lot blabbing."

"And I'll tell Shun and Yuto" Ruri chipped in "Your dad won't ever find out!"

Hopefully.

"I guess we can go then?" Rin asked "The conservatory's done."

"So's the back garden!" Shingo declared.

"Yeah" Yuzu agreed "Thanks for all your help."

"Wait, how did I get here?" Shingo asked, scanning the street for a vehicle he recognised "Did I come with someone?"

"You came with Crow, but he left" Yuzu remembered that much at least.

As Shingo started to look increasingly distressed, probably thinking he was going to be stranded here and forced to walk home, Serena spoke up. "I'll give you a lift."

Shingo looked like he could've _kissed_ Serena at that moment, but he quickly wiped the excitement off of his face and tried to smooth it into a 'cool', suave gentlemanly face. "Well of course you would, who wouldn't want to ride with the Neo New Sawatari Shingo?"

Serena opened the door to the truck with a little more force than necessary, a very forced smile on her face. "Just get in the truck or I'm dropping you off on the interstate."

As Shingo hurried to get in before he could say anything else stupid, Serena thought to say: "I'm gonna need your address."

"You know what, just drop me off at the café on the corner by the tower" Shingo suggested "I'm starving and they have pie."

"Oh! Me too! I'm starving too!" Yugo chipped in, perky as if he didn't have a hangover like the rest of them. He clung to Rin with a vice-like grip. "Let's go with them Rin! I want hashbrowns!"

"Alright, sure" Rin agreed "I wouldn't turn down some bacon right now." She turned to Shingo. "You can ride with me, so Serena doesn't have to drive you all the way into town."

"You know what, I'll come too" Serena decided "I can dump all this junk in their dumpster. Do they do pancakes?"

"They do, I've been a couple of times" Yuzu told her, her mouth watering at the discussion of pancakes and bacon. But going for breakfast wasn't an option. She still had three people to get rid of and a house to inspect, not to mention if her dad came home and she was missing, who knew what kind of scenarios he would paint in his mind of what she had been doing while he was away. Her staying the night with Yuya after school one time had left him convinced she'd run away joined a biker gang.

"Alright then, everyone's going downtown!" Yugo fist-pumped the air "You too Ruri?"

Ruri finally removed the shutter shades and the feather boa. "No thank you, I think I'll just go home."

"Aw, you sure?" Rin asked.

"You should go" Yuzu prompted her "You slept on the roof last night, girl. Not to mention you probably partied your butt off on the balcony. You could do with a good breakfast."

Ruri blinked and then looked sheepishly between the all for announcing: "Okay then. I'll go for breakfast too."

Yugo cheered and Rin patted her on the back.

"We'll see you guys there!" Yugo called back to them as he and Rin raced across the street, nearly getting hit by a passing motorist as they darted towards their bikes parked on the opposite side of the road.

"Yuto already left" Ruri pointed out, turning to Serena "So, can you take me?"

"Of course, you dolt!" Serena cuffed her over the head jokingly "You're better company than _him_ anyway."

Shingo automatically stuck his head out of the window, eyes lighting up at the subtle mention of his person. "Me sitting between two beautiful ladies? It is a good day to be the Neo New Sawatari Shingo!"

The girls ignored him as they clambered into the front of the truck. Yuzu moved to the window so she could briefly talk to Ruri.

"Thank you for inviting me, Yuzu" she thanked her yet again "I hope we can do it again!"

"Maybe without the alcohol and the toilet paper, next time" Yuzu suggested.

"Bye Yuzu, we're going for breakfast!" Serena called across the cab.

Yuzu had to jump out of the way as Serena hit the gas and the truck peeled away down the road at a worrying speed. Rin and Yugo's bikes roared after them a few seconds later. She waved to them until they were out of sight and then turned to head back inside. There was only one car left on the driveway.

Checking the floor, she could see Shingo was right. The downstairs was spotless, as if a party hadn't been thrown there last night. Her friends may be ten shades of pain in the neck, but they got stuff done.

She touched the sofa and the carpet – they were close to dry. Outside, the back garden looked good as the day they had moved in. The only anomaly was Sora's boxers lying on the side of the pool. They were cold to the touch but dry enough to handle. Repressing a shudder, Yuzu picked them up with two fingers and headed off in search of the three people she wanted to leave more than anyone else.

The three of them were lazing around the dryer, which was vibrating and humming away. Sora was sitting on top of it, his legs swinging, whilst Yuri leant again the wall and Dennis appeared to hide something behind his back.

"Pyjamas" she ordered immediately.

Reluctantly, Dennis handed over the plastic bag he was hiding behind his bag, which predictably contained her pyjamas. As much as she wanted to burn them, she wasn't entire sure how her dad would react to seeing the smouldering remains of her favourite pyjamas in the fireplace. A long wash and a whole load of brain bleach would have to do.

"Sora, these are yours" she said, holding his boxers out in his general direction.

Sora's face lit up. "Cool! Thanks Yuzu!"

He hastily jumped off of the dryer and practically bounced into the downstairs bathroom.

"How long until it's done?" she asked Yuri, the only one she wasn't particularly mad at.

Yuri's face appeared stuck in a permanent scowl at he stared fixed at the dryer as if it was the cause of all of his life's problems. "Ten minutes."

Yuzu checked her phone again. 11:44.

"Sorry again for the mess" Dennis apologised sheepishly.

"Don't talk to me" Yuzu told him, pointedly not looking at him. She still couldn't be sure that the three of them weren't the ones to mess up her dad's bedroom, since no one else had fessed up.

Ten minutes were actually about seven, but those seven minutes dragged on like seven days, waiting for the sheets to dry. Not trusting Sora to do the job seriously, Yuzu commissioned Yuri and Dennis to help her make the bed in an uncomfortable silence. Yuzu took one more look at the now cleaned balcony and the back garden below before shutting the glass doors and putting her pyjamas in the washer for the longest, hottest wash she could set it to. Dad's shouldn't question her sudden cleanliness – he should embrace it.

"I guess everything's okay now" she acknowledged "Thanks for sticking around and helping out, I guess."

"We're leaving" was Yuri's only comment as he marched towards the front door as if Yuzu had purposefully wronged him.

"You're welcome!" Dennis called as he followed him.

Yuzu waited at the front door as they piled into Yuri's car, making sure that they actually left. As the car pulled away at a much more legal speed than Serena had, Sora rolled down his window to yell to her:

"Let us know when you're heaving another party!"

Yuzu heaved a sigh a relief. Gone. They were all gone. Them and their mess.

11:57. She even had a few minutes to spare.

She shut the front door and shuffled into the conservatory. Now the house was silent again, her pounding hangover appeared to feel worse than she remembered it. She poured herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge before returning to the conservatory and flopping down on the now dry sofa. She turned on the TV, now clear of plastic cups, and discovered someone had turned the volume up to the maximum on the music channel. Turning it down again and swapping it over to some cop show, she stared at the moving pictures, not really processing anything other than that she was dog tired.

They got home five minutes later.

"Hey Yuzu!" Yuya's voice echoed through the house the second he got through the door. Yuzu winced at the volume but made sure to grin when he crossed the room to hug her, followed in by Yoko and her dad.

"Hiya Yuya" she smiled "Hey Dad."

"Hello Sweetheart" her dad was grinning. So he didn't suspect anything, yet. "Did you miss me?"

"Tonnes" she said, not really lying.

Yuya was looking refreshed after the week-long trip. His skin was a few shades darker and his eyes appeared brighter.

"How we the magicians' summer camp?"

"It was great, I learnt a lot!" Yuya declared, flopping down on the sofa beside her "Lots of older kids were there though and they talked a lot."

"Those kids were very knowledgeable and polite" Yoko pointed out, her greeting to Yuzu unspoken but heartfelt. "You even got a medal."

"Really?" Yuzu asked, interested "For what? Harassing the professionals more than anyone else?"

"Oh ha ha!" Yuya scoffed "Hilarious."

"A medal for being 'an outstanding first-year group leader'" Yoko explained, practically glowing with pride.

"That's great!" Yuzu cheered.

"Say, you didn't have a party here, did you?" Her dad asked, probably more teasing than anything.

"No dad" Yuzu told him "No party."

Something in her face must've said something different though, as her father's cheerful expression fell slightly and he left the room. Yuzu crossed her fingers as she heard him going from room to room: kitchen, bathroom, her bedroom, his bedroom, upstairs, downstairs. Finally, he returned, his cheerful expression back on as he swooped over to the sofa and grabbed her in a tighter hug than even Yuya's had been.

"I'm so proud of you!" he all but sobbed "I knew I could trust you!"

"Of course you could, it's Yuzu" Yuya pointed out "I told you, you had nothing to worry about."

Yuzu grimaced. Clearly the pair of them had a little _too_ much faith in her. "Well, I mean, you were only gone for one night…"

"One night or one week, I'm proud that you could follow the rules like a responsible adult" her dad told her.

"Well then, Shizou, perhaps you should tell her" Yoko prompted him.

In the end, her dad never got to speak, because Yuya got there first. "So Yuzu, we were talking in the car, and you know how it's the beginning of the summer?"

Yuzu nodded, an inexplicable sinking feeling welling up in her stomach.

"Well, your dad said we could invite everyone over and have a big party to celebrate! It's that great? Yuzu?"

Yuzu only just managed to hold back throwing up all over the place she'd just cleaned earlier that morning and found herself sweating like she'd ran a marathon.

"Well, _I_ thought it was a good idea. I thought you liked parties, Yuzu?"


End file.
